Shizune Hakamichi

Information

Image Gallery

Plot

"Strong willed and forceful, Shizune is definitely the leader type. She’s been the class rep, despite being deaf and mute, for as long as her class has had one, and generally takes charge in just about any situation she’s placed in. Shizune is known around the school as a fearsome taskmaster, and skilled manipulator, but also as a fair and just leader."

— Official Description

Shizune Hakamichi (羽加道 静音, Hakamichi Shizune) is the class representative of Class 3-3 at Yamaku Academy, as well as the president of the Student Council. She is deaf, and as such, uses sign language to communicate, and has Misha translate to her whenever possible. She is very diligent when it comes to student council work, and does not appreciate people around her slacking off or shirking their duties. She is very strict towards others, in contrast to the more accepting nature of Lilly Satou, the representative of class 3-2.

Appearance

• 
  Shizune's yukata
• 
  Shizune's casual clothes

Shizune has short dark blue hair and dark blue eyes. She usually wears a pair of silver glasses that she rarely takes off, a gold wristwatch, dark blue thigh-high socks, and black shoes, with a strap decorated with a red rose.

She is often seen wearing her school uniform, which is described as tight on her. In casual scenes, she is seen wearing two other outfits - both of which are described as “mature” and “well-thought-out” by Hisao. The first is a yukata, in a vivid and deep red, with faded white flowers and a purple bow, which she wore to the Tanabata Festival with Hisao and Misha. With the yukata, she wore a light bronze hair pin of a decorative flower. Although rather large, it featured red jewels embedded for petals, giving off elegance and beauty. The second outfit she wore was a long white and black dress, complete with a red belt running across her mid-section. The dress had three buttons along the center as well as black straps, which Shizune has tied into a bow behind her neck. She wore this when she returned home to Saitama.

Personality

Shizune's appearance and aura comes off as serious and strictly business-oriented, as she has a semi-professional way of living life and upholding herself. Shizune displays natural leadership qualities such as punctuality, precision, and proactivity. She doesn't like being a leader, but rather enjoys the responsibility it entails, as with being the president of the Student Council. As she really values the Student Council, she constantly seeks others to join it, and it can seem like every word she says has some agenda attached to it. Shizune can also be blunt at times with what she says. This is partly due to her deafness, as well as her perfectionist mindset, making her favor being more straightforward.

While she is often focused, she can also be witty and clever, and she does have a childish side to her. She may challenge and debate even the most minute topics, such as shaved ice flavors; some of this is due to her fiercely competitive spirit, as she'll think up contests and competitions for fun, and to see if her opponent would argue against her.

Her deafness has a clear influence in her personality that sets her aside from the others. Shizune is unable to hide her emotions that well, and instead wears them on her face plainly. Because of this, she blushes easily when being teased. She is also more analytical, often fidgeting with her glasses and staring at people, almost as if she was plotting something; In reality, she's trying to fully understand the essence of a full conversation within her limitations.

Despite being focused, self-sufficient, and precise, one of Shizune's deepest traits is her sensitivity to failure. She would attempt to hide any mistakes she made and fight her battles by herself until they become too much for her to bear. While she doesn't hide all emotions easily, she'll often hide how events and relationships affect her deeply.

Plot

See Shizune's route for the full plotline.

Relationships

Family

Akira Satou - Shizune and Akira are cousins, and get along with each other. The two are mentioned to have a history together, but details are not known.

Hideaki Hakamichi - Shizune and Hideaki get along, but a strong sibling rivalry exists between them. Hideaki shares Shizune's competitive drive, which often has them competing over anything. Shizune upholds her older-sister role when it comes to managing Hideaki, but communication between the two is difficult, as Hideaki does not know sign language. The siblings share some hobbies as well, the main one being fishing, and both are seen to be good at board games.

Jigoro Hakamichi - Her father, who Shizune resents, and talks back to, even though he doesn't know sign language. She often imitates and enjoys making fun of him.

Students

Shiina Mikado (a.k.a. Misha) - Shizune's best friend and interpreter. Misha met Shizune at the beginning of her freshman year. Misha knew little sign language then, but just enough for the two to become friends. They have been friends ever since; however, Misha had developed a crush on Shizune. Misha would confess in the Student Council room, only to have Shizune rebuff her feelings, causing serious conflict later in Shizune’s route.

All throughout her arc, Shizune notes that she doesn't give Misha enough credit for being such an asset to her. In fact, Misha's grades slipped due to her persistence to be with Shizune and to help her. Although the two rarely fight, the chosen ending in Shizune’s route determines whether or not Shizune and Misha continue to be friends after graduation from Yamaku.

Lilly Satou - Shizune is not very fond of Lilly, another of her cousins, and is often arguing with her whenever they meet. Lilly describes Shizune as pushy, rude, and intimidating to others, while Shizune thinks Lilly is selfish and lazy. In the past, both were once in Student Council before Shizune "scared off" the rest of the members, leaving just herself and Misha. Regardless, the two respect each other’s freedom to choose how they live.  

Staff

Akio Mutou - As Student Council President and as an ambitious student, Shizune is on good terms with her teacher.

Yuuko Shirakawa - Shizune sees Yuuko often at the Shanghai as well as the Yamaku Library; she is a regular in both locations. As a result, the two have a mutual if not good relationship.

Etymology

• The name Shizune means "quiet" (静) (shizu) and "sound" (音) (ne).
• Shizune's surname Hakamichi means "feather" (羽) (ha), "add, increase" (加) (ka) and "road" (道) (michi).
  • Hakamichi (墓道) could also be translated as "Pathway to the Grave," with 墓 (haka) meaning "grave" and 道 (michi) meaning "road, way, street or path"

Trivia

• She is the only romanceable character who does not cry during her own route (not even in the bad ending).
• Neither Shizune nor Misha discuss Hisao Nakai's problem with arrhythmia, and the closest comes in Slow Recovery (Act 1) when with Misha, where he gives some hints about being hospitalized in the past, and nothing else.
• Shizune wears a watch on her right wrist, but it is never shown in-game.
  • It has golden hands and described as "delicate".
• In-game actions hint that Shizune is capable of reading lips, but this is never confirmed.
• Shizune refuses to throw things, even for festival games.
• Misha says that Shizune never makes wishes. The reason for this is unknown, but Shizune appears to be embarrassed about it.
• Shizune can snap her fingers loudly that Hisao describes it as "cringe-inducingly loud" ("The Summit").
• Shizune has functioning vocal chords, being able to make slightly audible laughs, but is "mute".
• In the early drafting stages of the project, Shizune was given the name Rosa before it changed to Shizune a few months later.

es:Shizune Hakamichi